Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Close-up: great American performances 1
5. 1 Ethel Waters in Th e Member of the Wedding 13
6. 2 Irene Dunne in Th e Awful Truth 25
7. 3 Cary Grant in His Girl Friday 36
8. 4 Janet Gaynor in Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 47
9. 5 Katharine Hepburn in Th e Lion in Winter 56
10. 6 Bett e Davis in Dangerous 67
11. 7 James Stewart in Vertigo 79
12. 8 Carole Lombard in To Be or Not to Be 91
13. 9 James Mason in Lolita 100
14. 10 Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun 111
15. 11 Tony Curtis in Sweet Smell of Success 124
16. 12 Peter Sellers in Th e Pink Panther 135
17. 13 Richard Burton in Th e Spy Who Came in fr om the Cold 147
18. 14 Jerry Lewis in Th e King of Comedy 158
19. 15 Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night 169
20. 16 Gene Hackman in Th e Conversation 178
21. 17 Gena Rowlands in Gloria 188
22. 18 Jack Nicholson in Th e Passenger 199
23. 19 Dustin Hoff man in Rain Man 212
24. 20 Elliott Gould in Th e Long Goodbye 223
25. 21 Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco 234
26. 22 Whoopi Goldberg in Th e Color Purple 243
27. 23 Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine 253
28. 24 Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year 263
29. 25 Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria 274
30. The cast 286
31. The contributors 288
32. Index 294